The invention relates to a security adapter which is provided for the connection of at least one fluid line portion. This security adapter can be installed, for example, between a pipe line or a similar sanitary line or a water intake valve on the one hand and a sanitary outlet, for instance a shower spray head or shower hose, and is intended to counteract improper release of the connection made with the security adapter.
It is known that on the one hand a large amount of water is consumed in the sanitary sector, for example during showering, whilst on the other hand less and less water is available for this purpose. In order to counteract this discrepancy and to save water, what are termed flow rate regulators have been developed, these ensuring that the quantity of water which emerges, for example, during showering does not exceed a specific maximum flow rate and pressure fluctuations in the supplying water line are compensated for. The flow rate regulators known from the prior art are therefore usually interposed in the connection between a shower spray head and a water feed line, for example a hose, or instead in the connection between the mixer faucet of a shower on the one hand and a water line, for example a hose, on the other hand. In this way, it is readily possible even for untrained users to replace the flow rate regulator or to remove it entirely generally without the use of a tool, for example in order to increase or to reduce the quantity of water supplied.
Country-specific regulations, for example in the USA, provide that sanitary devices such as shower spray heads have to be operated with such a flow rate regulator. In addition to the use of flow rate regulators, the US Government's Energy Policy Act of 1992 also stated that these must not be manipulated, in order for instance to change the quantity of water which emerges. Complete removal of the flow rate regulators is also no longer permissible.
An apparatus which is directed to this problem is already known from the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 8,091,587 B1 describes the assembly of the legally prescribed flow rate regulator by means of an adapter, which adapter is located behind the wall and is connected to a water intake valve. For assembly and disassembly, this adapter has a hexagon socket, which is arranged on the outflow side downstream of the flow rate regulator. A shower spray head is fastened downstream of the adapter in the direction of flow by means of an upstream pipe with a thread.
This apparatus which is known from the prior art has the disadvantage that the flow rate regulator which is located behind the wall can also be removed easily by untrained users. This merely needs a hexagonal tool, in order to remove the adapter once the shower spray head or shower hose has been removed and in order to thereby get at the flow rate regulator. Hexagonal tools of this type are also readily available to the untrained user, since the use thereof is common in various technical fields.